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Neighbors | Jessica Harker.History librarian Tim Seman organized the Preserving and Conserving Your Family Heirlooms event March 14 at the Boardman library.
By JESSICA HARKER
Community members learned how to care for their families heirlooms on March 14 at the Boardman library.
History librarian Tim Seman organized the event.
“It is really important that we take care of our history,” Seman said. “Those are the things that define who we are.”
Seman kicked off the event by explaining the different dangers that the prized family possessions can go through.
“It’s unrealistic to think you can have an archive at home,” Seman said. “You can’t have a vault with air control, so you have to be aware of the other issues it can go through.”
These threats included unstable environments, water and sun light damage, and other ways books and other family heirlooms can be damaged.
To battle these environmental hazards, Seman offered a variety of advice to community members about how and where to store items.
“Photos can be stored in an album or in a box, that way they are protected from the sun and can be easily accessible,” Seman said.
He also provided resources to where community members can purchase specialized equipment, including book boxes, to safely store items that would be damaged by regular storage.
“It’s all about preservation,” Seman said. “This is all about you and this is your knowledge of your family history, your lineage deserves to have this preserved.”
Seman organizes the library’s genealogy and local history page on its website.
Here he lists a variety of places in the Mahoning Valley to access historical records.
For more information or to access these records, go to www.libraryvisit.org/research/genealogy-resources/.